The King is Dead

Monday, August 14, 2017

Between being inspired by finally watching Lupin the Third Part Four (the blue jacket series set in Italy) and not feeling like ingesting all the setting lore needed to really give Blue Rose a proper shot, Robin and I decided to run a 1970s-set globetrotting cat burglar Savage Worlds duet game. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much in the way of support materials for such a game.

This isn’t that surprising; the particular mood and tone we’re going for isn’t found in that many works. Outside of the Lupin the Third franchise, there’s what? The Saint? Two Pink Panther movies? Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s series? Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief?

Leverage – both TV series and RPG – come close without quite hitting the mark. The basic rulebook at least doesn’t really support the mood we want, and I don’t feel like paying $25 for the Leverage Companion, Vol. 1 (which, with its firearms rules and the like, might expand the game into more Lupintic territory). I can mine my copy of the main rules for some ideas, but the adventure generator is linked to the premise of the franchise (heroic con artists scam nasty bigwigs) that it falls short of what I need.

Here then is a generator for more – shall we say – “self-directed” larceny on a global stage. Enjoy!

Examples: “Bohemian/art scene” and “resort/sports” suggests Aspen, Colorado in North America, Lucerne, Switzerland, in Europe, and Rio de Janeiro in South America. “Commerce/politics” and “historical/heritage” might suggest Kyoto, Japan in Asia, London, England in Europe, and Mexico City, Mexico in North America.

While we all know Savage Worlds is great for Fast! Furious!
Fun! action-adventure, my personal experience is that it’s also great for games
of dueling wits. I’ve kicked around ideas for Savaging the world of Regency
romances for practically as long as I’ve been writing Wine and Savages, and now I’ve found a great reason to revive that
project.

There’s a Kickstarter running for what would be the perfect
Action Cards for such a setting – the Jane Austen Playing Cards by John EricLigon – but it’s only slightly over halfway to its goal with just over a week
left to run. If all of y’all help get the Kickstarter funded, I will compile
and rewrite my extensive Regency posts into a coherent mini-setting guide.

Included will be:

An introduction to the history of the Regency
and the tropes of Regency romance

New Background and Social Edges

Extended social conflict rules

Regency romance adventure generators

A full adventure for multiple players

Two mini-plot point adventures for duet play –
one for a hero and one for a heroine

Stats for allies and adversaries from history
and the works of Jane Austen

Pre-generated characters

Figure flats

This supplement will be free to anyone who can provide proof
that they’re a backer of the Kickstarter, but I’ll also be putting it on sale.
Right now I’m projecting about 40 pages of content and a price point of about
$4.50.

Two caveats, though.

First, I am in no way affiliated with the Jane AustenPlaying Cards Kickstarter and it’s the creators first project; I can in no way
be held responsible for any failure on the part of John Eric Ligon in
fulfilling the Kickstarter. With that said, I’m a backer too, so if it doesn’t
pan out then I’m also up a creek – but Mr. Ligon is an associate dean at the
University of North Texas and most of the project is designed and ready to go
the printers, so I doubt there will be any problems.

Second, I will aim to complete the book by the end of
October, hopefully coinciding close to the release of the cards, but IF SOME
MAJOR NEW PROJECT COMES UP (which could possibly happen), then I will be
obliged to prioritize that project. If that happens, then the Regency book will
be ready by Christmas. Right now, I’ve got adventures sitting with the editors
for Adamant Entertainment, Buccaneer:
Through Hell & High Water, and Savage
Worlds Explorer. Robin and I are also working on an adventure for Rifts® for Savage Worlds for the Explorer (which we’ll probably finish in
the next week or so) and we may be required to edit or rewrite our
contributions to the Rifts® books in
progress. With that said, we’ve been kicking around the idea for a series of
mini-setting books for a year or so, and the Regency book is a great place to
start.

I’ve pledged at the $26 level for two decks of cards
(perfect for Savage Worlds), but I’ll
give away the book to anyone who pledges just $1 or more. Keep in mind, though,
that no one gets the book unless the Kickstarter succeeds – and we’ve only got
until 6:15PM CDT on Wednesday, August 16th to get it funded!

PWYW For This Thing We Wrote!

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